Blue Ambition: The Tails Adventure
by PopfullaWriter
Summary: [COMM] Based off the original Sonic Universe arc, Tails' favorite vacation spot is bombarded by a crazy "student of Eggman" turning the natives into robots! But have no fear, Tails has old friends AND new to help him save the day!
1. Chapter 1

**Blue Ambition: "Tails' Adventure"**

Written by: Toni the Mink

Commissioned by: Cross_Serene

Inspired by Archie's "Sonic Universe: The Tails Adventure" arc

All Sonic characters (c) SEGA

Chopper the Chipmunk (c) Toni the Mink

"Bue Ambition" is a fanseries by Cross_Serene.

I personally like to take credit for the "Dr. Thorndyke" idea...

_Can we PLEASE start the story now?_

* * *

It was Graduation Day. Every seat in the auditorium was filled. Granted, it was filled with _robots_… bot for the graduate, this was the best he could ever hope for.

He walked across the stage, up to his mentor, who had his diploma ready. He gave his teacher a respectable bow.

"You have succeeded in all your lessons, and have surpassed your initial potential," the teacher smiled, "I admit, I was worried at first. I didn't think I would ever meet someone whose intelligence just about matches mine… but one who is flesh and blood at that! Oh course, I've already told you how I felt about past subordinates who were _not_ machines… But you are certainly different from them!"

The student raised a fist over his chest. "You know I am utmost loyal to only you, Dr. Robotnik."

"Oh Ovi, come now!" the doctor waved his hand, "We're practically colleagues now! Call me Eggman."

He proudly handed over a sealed diploma. "And with this doctorate, from this point on, you shall be known as Doctor…"

"Thorndyke," Ovi Robotnik replied, "I prefer to keep under cover."

Eggman nodded. "Dr. Thorndyke it is. Congratulations!"

The crowd of Badniks and EggPawns burst into applause. Thorndyke turned to bow at them, then turned back to Eggman. "I look forward to assisting you in your world conquest, Master."

"I'm glad to hear that," said Eggman, "You may be a graduate, but there's still one last test for you…"

"Yes, sir?"

"To truly consider yourself my heir, let's see how well you can take control of, oh say, one tiny little island…"

* * *

"Yeee-HAW!" Bunnie chimed as she, Antoine, and Tails sped through the ocean in Tails' Sea Fox ship, "Just feel that ocean wind hit ya like no one's business! Now THIS is the way to travel!"

Tails glanced over at his second passenger, sitting on his right. Antoine was not enjoying the ride as much as his new wife. In fact, he look downright petrified. "Y'know, Antoine," he called over, "You CAN put up the windshield dome if you need to."

"No, no," Antoine answered quickly, "'Zis eez fine! I am… _ulp_… enjoying myself…"

"Okay, if you say so," said Tails, just as they suddenly flew over a large wave underneath. Antoine yelped loudly and clutched the side of his passenger cockpit tightly.

Bunnie chuckled. "My poor boy," she said, "Just some things that won't change so easily." She looked over to Tails, "Now y'sure ya don't mind us crashin' in on your favorite vacation spot, sugah?"

"Not at all!" Tails smiled, "I may go here alone a lot, but it won't hurt to have company for once. Besides, we've all went through some tough times lately. You guys definitely deserve a break. In fact…" He glanced over with a shy smile, "You two haven't even had a honeymoon yet, have you?"

Bunnie shook her head. "Just ain't had the time. Ol' Egghead's always up t'no good…"

"In that case, welcome aboard, and have a good time!" Tails grinned as he accelerated the ship. They hopped another wave, causing Antoine to freak.

After a while, Tails finally reached land, and coasted up to the sandy beachside. He used some added mechanics to "walk" the ship a little further onto land so they were out of the water. Tails and Bunnie got out with their luggage in hand. Antoine, however, was frozen solid with fear, and still stuck in his seat.

"Come on out, Sugah-Twan," Bunnie coaxed, "We just ain't gonna have a good time if'n yer still in the ship."

"Yeah," Tails smiled, "No more crazy waves."

Antoine seemed slightly relaxed, and slowly crawled out of the Sea Fox.

"You just need to worry about the crazy natives."

"WAIGH!" Antoine hopped back into the ship.

Bunnie eyed Tails. "Crazy natives..?"

Tails chuckled. "I'm just kidding," he said, "The natives are pretty chill, actually… Well, I mean, they don't bother me whenever I come visit. They tend to keep to themselves. But since they're not vicious or anything, I say that's pretty chill."

Bunnie nodded. "All right hon, if y'all say so."

Tails hoisted his backpack over his shoulder and started heading uphill. "My workshop is just above this hill," he told his friends, "Now you guys sure you want to stay here? You're welcome to bunk with me."

"That's mighty sweet of you, sugah," Bunnie replied, "But Antoine and I want to experience the outdoors and camping life. Right, hon?" She looked to her husband, who was still cowered in the Sea Fox. "Erm… We'll hit you up if'n we need ya."

"You sure you won't be too bored here?" Tails asked.

"We'll be fine," Bunnie waved her hands in a 'shooing' motion. "G'won, now. Scat."

"All right," Tails turned around and headed off, "Well, have fun!"

"You too!"

As Tails disappeared over the hill, Bunnie came over to Antoine, took him by the arms, and lifted him out of the Sea Fox. "Will we be bored, he asks," she chuckled out loud.

"Who 'az time to be bored when zere are hidden dangers to come attack us?" Antoine shuddered.

"Now you stop that nonsense," said Bunnie, "Y'all know me. I'll protect you, sweetie."

At that, Antoine shook his senses clear and stood straight. "No no no," he said, "I am your husband, and eet ez _I_ who shall be protecting you! Now, stand back az I survey ze area!" He unseathed his sword and swung it forward, and it pointed to a nearby bush.

"_Eeeep!"_

"_Waiigh!"_ Antoine dropped the sword and fell on his bottom as the bush rustled and a young, black-furred chipmunk suddenly popped out.

"Oh mah!" Bunnie blinked, "Now who in blazes would you be?" She stepped a little closer to the child, only to have him scoot backwards and run away off the beach.

The rabbot scratched her head as Antoine slowly climbed back to his feet. "Huh… Must be one of 'em natives Tails was talkin' 'bout. But he looked so young… Ah hope there was someone watchin' 'im…"

"'Ee ez just a wild child," Antoine grumbled, hoisting his luggage out of the Sea Fox and pulling it to the land. "Best to leave 'im be. We don't bozaire 'im, 'ee will not be bozairing us."

Bunnie sighed. "All right. Ah hope yer right."

"Please, mon cherie!" Antoine took a hold of her hand and caressed it, "I am always right! Now…" He motioned to the camping gear, "Let us set camp."

* * *

Tails soared across the sky via his double appendages, up the hill until he reached his small workshop. He built it when he first lived here on his own, and would come back to stay here whenever he needed a vacation.

The little chipmunk had run from Antoine and Bunnie's camp and made his way uphill, coming across the little shack. He had often walked by here before, but the shack was always locked. But after looking in the windows, nothing looked interesting in there anyway…

However, as he came by, he noticed the swish of not one, but TWO tails entering the shack, and closing the door afterwards. Hey! Someone was home for once! The chipmunk was always alone on this island, so he liked to see what was going one with others.

Curious of these strangers, he pushed a crate near the window and stepped up to take a peek inside. He found the owners of the two tails… it was ONE fox… with TWO tails!

'Whoa… Freaky!'

Then again, he had an abnormally large overbite that was strong enough to cut through anything, so who was he to say 'Freaky'?

The fox had placed an orb on his work table, took out a tool box, and began fiddling inside. The chipmunk squinted for a better look, and saw it looked like a little robot… Those were things he only saw in magazines. Not read though… he can't read very well…

'This guy seems interesting..!' the chipmunk grinned to himself, '… I think I like him!'

*_CRACK!*_

"AH!"

The crate suddenly broke, and the chipmunk came crashing down. He KNEW that was going to draw attention from the fox. Panicked, he jumped to his feet and ran away as fast as his little legs could carry him.

Tails peaked outside at the sound of something crashing. He looked around, but saw nothing. He noticed the broken crate under the window. But he had never used it for anything. He figured it must have fallen over, and broke in the process. He stepped back inside and closed the door, then went back to work on his latest project: the T-Pup.

* * *

The little chipmunk decided to return to the beach, where the coyote and rabbit couple were. He cautiously peered through the bushes, being careful not to make too much noise this time around.

He watched as the coyote man tried to set a tent up, only to constantly have the poles swing back and smack him in the face. The chipmunk giggled at this, but quickly clamped his mouth shut. He didn't want to draw attention to himself…

The rabbit came over to help, and extended her robot arm to hold the poles still as the coyote was finally able to hammer in the pins.

'Why do they wanna make tents for? There's nuttin' wrong with sleepin' under trees…'

The two then dragged over a few big rocks and set them in a circle. The rabbit left for a moment, and returned with some sticks and twigs. The coyote constantly tried to spark a flame by striking two rocks together, but it was a no go… The rabbit then pointed her robot arm at the center, and shot a small blast, which set the wood in the camp on fire.

The chipmunk sighed. 'I wish I could make a fire… It'd be nice to be warm at night for once… but I'm not a'sposed to play with fire…'

The two then sat together, curling up against the campfire. The held hands, rolled their heads into each others' shoulders, and pressed their lips together.

The chipmunk squinted in disgust. 'Eeeewww…! Okay, show's over. I'm outta here!'

He scampered off, leaving the lovers to their peace.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the south side of Cocoa Island, a smaller version of the Egg Carrier began to float in. The quiet and reclusive natives took notice, and knew this wasn't a good thing. They rightfully began panicking.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dr. Thorndyke eyed the monitors at the island below. "Hm… Pretty small," he muttered, "I suppose Dr. Eggman wants me to take baby steps before I move up to the entire world. I guess this little island will make for good practice…"

He gave a nod. "Send down the pawns. Have them capture as many island go-ers as they can. Bring them up here for our little 'experiment."

One of Thorndyke's cohorts, Orbot, nodded and turned to the console, pressing a button and then speaking into the mic. "All Egg Pawns stationed in the cargo… Move out!"

* * *

After an evening of passionate love making by the ocean, Antoine and Bunnie curled up in each other's arms near the bonfire.

"Bunnie…" Antoine started.

"Yes?"

"Do you z'ink… did we get married too soon?"

Bunnie smirked. "And he asks this on what's s'pose to be our honeymoon."

"Oh, no no!" Antoine jerked up suddenly, sweating slightly, "I did not mean, er what I meant to zay ez zat."

"Oh shush you," Bunnie caressed her husband's chest, "Ah knew what y'all meant." She readjusted herself and laid her head on Antoine's chest. "If'n this were some years back, Ah'd reckon we were rushin' into things. But after all we've gone through… we all had to grow up pretty fast."

"Oui…" Antoine rubbed the rabbot's back softly, "I was just hoping zat you are content with our decision…"

Bunnie gazed up at Antoine ever-so-lovingly. "Honey, Ah couldn't be happier. Y'aint got nothin' to worry about."

But of course, just as she said that, a group of robotic animals suddenly surrounded them.

* * *

"_Waaaaigh!"_

Tails bolted awake at the sound of a child's scream. He scrambled out of bed, only to trip over his comforter and land splat on the floor.

Fortunately, his newest robot he had just finished earlier that day, had raced into action, bolting out the door with ferocious sounding "yips".

"T-Pup!" Tails cried, "Wait up!"

The dog-like robot was already far ahead, and spotted a tall wolf nearby, harassing a young chipmunk child. The wolf had cornered the little boy against a tree. T-Pup dashed in and hopped on the back of the wolf, biting him on the back of his neck. The wolf gave a chilling, robotic howl, and twisted around trying to throw the smaller robot off.

The chipmunk jumped in and helped, biting the leg of the robot wolf, and managing to rip it off its hinge. The wolfbot hopped around helplessly…

Leaving Tails to rush in and kick the wolf in the side with both feet, knocking it to the ground.

He turned around to face the chipmunk, and just barely managed to grab hold of his shoulders to keep him from biting _him. _"Whoa, take it easy!" he cried, "I won't hurt you!"

The chipmunk immediately calmed down. "Hey… you can talk!"

"Yeah. And..?"

"Robots don't talk!" the chipmunk scratched his head, "Well, I don't think so anyway…"

"Well, I'm not a robot, so don't worry," Tails smiled, but then quickly frowned, "Wait, what do you mean 'robot'?"

"That thing!" the boy pointed to the wolfbot, writhing on the floor, as T-Pup suspiciously sniffed at it. "He used ta' be a regular wolf, but then suddenly he turned into a robot!"

Tails raised an eyebrow. "He did..?"

The chipmunk nodded. "In fact, a lotta people who lived on this island suddenly became robots! Even-" He looked over at T-Pup who was puttering over to his side, "THAT ONE!"

He went to attack, but was grabbed back by Tails once more. "No no!" he cried, "That's a GOOD robot! That's T-Pup, my robo-dog-fox."

The chipmunk stopped. "Oh…. Ohhhhhh!" he cried, "I remember that now! You WERE working on sumthin' similar ta' that!"

Tails blinked, "You were watching me?"

The boy nodded. "Hope you don't mind… I get lonely by myself sometimes, and I like to see what everyone else is doing…"

"So it was YOU that broke that crate!" said Tails, then quickly shook his head, "Not important. If people are turning into robots, then there's definitely trouble a foot. C'mon, we better check on Antoine and Bunnie!"

"And they the coyote and bunny on the beach?"

"I take it you visited them too… Come on!" Tails scooped up the little chipmunk, twirled his namesakes, and took off to the sky, with T-Pup activating a small helicopter and following.

"Whoa, this is so cool!" the chipmunk chimed, "So you not only have two tails, you can use 'em to fly! That's so neat!"

Tails grinned. "Sure is!"

"What's yer name, by the way?"

The fox smiled at him. "It's Tails. Go figure, huh? What's yours?"

"Your name is Tails..?" the chipmunk figured he had to give him a cool sounding name too (and not his lame _real _name…). If this guy had two tails and was called "Tails", then he wanted a name that related to his famous attribute too…

"You can call me Chopper!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Bunnie and Antoine had their hands full dealing with the sudden barrage of robot animals storming around them.

"What eez going on here?!" Antoine cried, ducking a robotic gorilla's grasp, "I z'ought zat zees natives were _friendly!" _He grabbed the gorilla's wrist and tried to pull it down, only to be swung in the air and tossed across the beach.

"Don't ya'll have better things ta' do than spy on a couple in the throes of passion?!" Bunnie shouted as she hook a robot cheetah.

The gorilla turned to the rabbit/robot hybrid and grabbed her from behind. "Hey!" she shouted and squirmed, "I ain't currently decent at the moment! That ain't no way to properly handle a lady!"

"Please to be getting your hands off of my wife!" Antoine charged at the gorilla, only to be tackled and knocked unconscious by the robot cheetah.

"Sugah-Twan!" Bunnie cried, but only had the grip on her tightened as the gorilla tramped away off the beach, and the cheetah followed while carrying Antoine.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Tails and the others got to the beach, they were only in time to see Antoine and Bunnie being transported to the skies, soaring across the island.

"Hey!" Tails cried, holding Chopper close as he and T-Pup took pursuit, "Come back here!"

Before they could get too close, they were suddenly knocked down by a speeding force. Tails and T-Pup plummeted to the ground, crashing into the sands of the beach. They glared up to see three robots landing nearby; one an eagle, one a jaybird, and another a bumblebee.

"Natives..?" Tails gasped.

"But they're robots now!" Chopper cried, as T-Pup barked loudly in an attempt to threaten the enemies.

The eagle and the jaybird bots leapt to the air at the same time, and dove at the trio. Tails grabbed Chopper and dove out of the way, as T-Pup went the opposite direction. Both bots narrowly missed.

But Tails found himself moving around some more as he evaded a laser blast from the bumblebee bot. As he jumped away, he was knocked over in the side by the eagle-bot. He and Chopper glared up to see the Bumblebee aiming his stinger at them and ready to shoot a laser…

Only for T-Pup to rush in and tackle the bee to the ground and chewed at it. The Eagle and Blue jay turned their attention to the fiasco, which allowed Tails and Chopper to get up and attack. Tails whacked his two tails into the eagle, and Chopper bit the blue jay, bringing them down.

"That won't hold them," Tails cried, grabbing Chopper and making a run for it in the woods, "We gotta go! C'mon, T-pup!"

"Ruff ruff!" T-pup hopped off the bee and chased after Tails. The robots, as expected, got up and gave chase. However, it didn't do well as they had lost sight of the culprits.

Through robotic wavelengths, they communicated to each other to spread out and search, and then took off in three different directions.

"Are they gone..?" Chopper quietly asked from under a bush, which served as their hiding place.

T-Pup poked his head out, and quickly surveyed the area. He then trotted out silently.

"T-Pup went out with no problems," Tails answered, "So I guess that means we're safe for now." He and Chopper carefully made their way out of the bushes.

"Whatta we do now, Tails?" Chopper asked.

The fox clenched his fist. "If Sonic were here, he'd would go after whoever's behind this and probably stop them by now…" He sighed, "But Sonic's not here…"

"Who's Sonic?"

Tails looked down at the chipmunk and smiled. "He's only the greatest hero on the planet anyone knows!"

Chopper blinked. "Even awesome than you?"

Tails sheepishly scratched at the back of his head. "Well, I try… But I couldn't."

"'Cause I think yer awesome!"

"You do?" Tails looked down again at the boy, who looked back eagerly and with awe. A proud smile crept across his face. "Well… since Sonic _isn't_ here, I guess that means I need to step up to the plate."

Chopper threw his hands in the air. "Whoo hoo! Yippee!"

"But I can't do it alone," Tails held out his fist, "Whattya say you be my sidekick?"

"Really?!"

"C'mon, don't leave me hanging here."

Chopper made a fist and bumped it into Tails'. "Okay!"

Tails then turned to his robot dog-fox. "T-Pup, lead the way. If we're going to save Antoine and Bunnie, we need to figure out where they were taken. But we need to stop at my workshop first. Make sure there aren't any more robotisized natives in the way."

"Ruff!" T-Pup hopped off, scouting ahead, as the new dynamic duo followed.

* * *

Once they were brought to the Air Fortress, Antoine and Bunnie were immediately taken into the hands of bigger and stronger robots, mostly to hold Bunnie, but it helped to keep Antoine in line as well.

Protesting and kicking didn't do any good, and they were taken to the center of the ship, where a strange machine was located. It was tall and cylinder in shape. As Bunnie and Antoine were ushered in, they witnessed the machine flashing brightly.

Once the light died down, the machine opened up, revealing a robot squirrel.

Antoine yelped out loud as Bunnie gasped. "Mah stars…" she murmured, "They're turning these poor natives into robots… It's worse than what Eggman could ever imagine!"

"But not too far off, I am afraid!" Antoine replied, shivering every part of his body.

The squirrel stepped up to the console, where a red orb-shaped robot sat. "Your orders have been uploaded into your new system," he said rather elegantly, "Storm the island and bring back as many natural natives you can."

The robot squirrel nodded and marched out.

"_Next!" _a more yokel voice called out. Antoine shrieked as yellow cubed-shaped robot approached him and grabbed his wrist.

"Stop!" Bunnie shouted, "You leave him alone!"

"You'll have your turn afterward, miss," the cubed-bot responded, "Now back in line."

"Hold it!"

Everyone froze, as a young man with chestnut-colored hair and a uniform similar to Dr. Eggman (only green) strolled into the room. Bunnie stared at him for a moment. "Them clothes…" she murmured, "You in any relation to Dotcah Eggman?"

The man stared hard at her. "He is my mentor," he replied, "I am Dr. Thorndyke, and this is my final trial to be truly his successor." He continued staring.

"I ain't no playboy bunny," the half rabbit, half robot snarked, "Quit starin' and get me somethin' to cover up!"

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm not into animals," Thorndyke sneered, "I just couldn't help but notice you're only _half _robot…"

Bunnie quickly glanced at her left arm and both legs. "Yeah," she replied, "What of it?"

"How did that happen?"

"Yoah close to Eggman. Ya'll oughta know."

Thorndyke twitched his nose, and glared at his robot cronies. "Orbot, Cubot, was there a malfunction with the robotisization process at any point?"

"Not under my watch, sir," Orbot replied, but then glared at his yellow companion, "Then again, I wasn't at the console the entire time. Cubot?"

"I don't remember any malfunctions!" Cubot protested, but then scratched at his head, "But then again, my memory processor has been fritzing a bit…"

An idea suddenly struck Bunnie, and she decided to go along. "Well you'd best to get it looked at, sugah, because the machine blacked out halfway!"

Cubot looked over, "It did?"

Antoine blinked. "It did..?"

Bunnie secretly jabbed her husband in the side. "Yes!" she shouted, "Ah WAS captured earlier and brought to the ship, but ya only robotisized me HALFWAY. But hey, mah mind is still loyal to y'all, so ya sent me down to capture more natives."

"Cubot, you doofus!" Throndyke shouted, "If there was an issue, you should've alerted me immediately!"

Cubot shielded himself. "I'm sorry, boss!" he cried, "I don't know what I was thinking! I don't even remember making any mistakes!"

"Shall we just finish the job, sir?" Orbot suggested.

"Hey!" Bunnie shouted, "Didn'ja not hear me?! Ah said Ah'm still loyal!"

"You can't robotisize limbs and expect the brain to change!" Thorndyke snapped, then narrowed his eyes, "Lucky for you, I don't want to risk putting machines in the robotisizer without properly checking through it first."

"What are your orders, sir?" asked Orbot.

"I think we have enough robotisized soldiers for the time being," Thorndyke replied, "Run diagnostics on the robotisizer, and lock away whoever we have so far." He nodded towards Bunnie, still held tightly by the stronger robots, "THIS one, however, is coming with me. I'll see for myself just what the robotisizer is capable of, and if what she says is true."

He turned and walked out of the room. "Come with me."

The robots followed with Bunnie in tow.

"Mai cherie!" Antoine cried.

"Keep yer pants on, pal," Bunnie shouted back, "Ah'll be back, no problem."

"But I am not wearing any pants!"

* * *

Though they had to take the scenic route, T-Pup was able to lead Tails and Chopper up the hill and back to their workshop. They passed a few robotisized natives, but kept low and undetected, and were able to pass through without trouble.

When they approached the small shack, it was fortunately empty.

"You'd think they'd look around a house in the middle o' nowhere," Chopper wondered out loud, "I mean, I looked through the windows all the time whenever I pass through."

"Remind me to teach you about privacy later," said Tails, "Fortunately for us, the enemies are either busy or just plain stupid. Come on, we gotta grab a few things."

"Like what?"

"You'll see!"

The three crept over to the door and snuck inside. Chopper was amazed at what was around him. "Wooow… I never was actually INSIDE here b'fore!"

"Welcome to my home away from home," Tails replied as he dug through a few drawers.

"You could prob'ly make a bunch of REALLY cool toys yourself!"

"Yeah… but what I consider toys, little boys like you should never play with."

"Why's that?"

"Well, let's just say you'll see for yourself," Tails pulled out a red arm cannon, quickly showing it to Chopper before laying it on the ground. "No touching!" he warned the chipmunk, who stepped closer to examine.

Tails pulled out several more objects, including some anklets that he quickly strapped to his shoes, a purple badge with white and purple feathers attached that he put around his neck, and a bag full of orbs.

"Are those marbles?" Chopper asked.

"Sorta," said Tails, "Except they explode."

"Cool!"

"And now one more thing," Tails pulled out a small object that looked like a miniature TV.

"What's that?" asked Chopper.

"It's an item box," Tails replied, "Eggman originally designed them, but I copied the plans and used them for myself to store the really big things."

"And this is…?"

"Come on, I'll show you!"

Just as Tails threw open the door to go out, T-Pup suddenly yapped and yapped, but it was too late. The army of robots had spotted them and moved in for the attack.

"Chopper, get behind me!" Tails cried, pushing the chipmunk behind him and strapping on his arm cannon.

One of the robots, a snake, dashed at them, but Tails blasted him with an energy ball, throwing him across the area. A ram-bot charged at the group, but with the Rhythm Badge on, Tails was able to spin towards them and whack him with his hyped up multi-tail attack, and went on to attack a goat, a monkey, and a road runner.

"Woo hoo!" Chopper jumped in the air excitedly, "Way ta' go, Tails!"

As the fox stopped to catch his breath, the ground behind him began to crumble. T-Pup was the first to notice it and bark viciously at it, which grabbed Chopper's attention and he noticed it to.

And a robot-mole jumped through, ready to attack Tails…

*CHOMP!*

It was brought down by Chopper, who raced in and bit it hard, short circuiting it.

"Chopper, look out!" Tails flew in and grabbed the little chipmunk, using his jet anklets to rush away from the scene, right before a dragonfly-robot could attack. T-Pup helicoptered up and followed.

Though the jet anklets were helping him get away quicker, they were soon finding themselves being pursued by other flying robots, such as the dragonfly, a hornet, and various others with wings.

"Tails, can you outrun 'em?" asked a panicked Chopper.

"Not for long," said Tails, but pulled out his bag of orbs, "But that's where the marbles come in!" He turned them upside down, letting them spill out and land on the robots behind. They exploded in a fury of fire, dropping them behind, giving the trio what they needed to escape.

They quickly found a clear ground to land on and hide for a moment. "Now what?" asked Chopper.

"We need to find out where Antoine and Bunnie were taken," said Tails, "But this is a huge island. We'll never cover it on foot in enough time. We need a bigger vessel." He pulled out the Item Box.

"That's bigger?"

"Just watch!" Tails threw the Item Box to the ground, and it exploded in a puff of smoke. Once it cleared, a big, blue bi-plane stood on the ground. "Say hello to the Tornado II!"

"Wow!" Chopper chimed, "Cool plane!"

"Thanks!" said Tails as he lifted up the chipmunk, flew up to the cockpit, and placed him in the back seat, "Ready to ride?"

Chopper jumped up excitedly. "Yeah yeah yeah!"

Tails got into the front seat and started up the engines. "Then here he go!"

T-Pup flew up to the back cockpit, settling in next to Chopper, and the Tornado II rolled forward, and then took to the skies.

* * *

"Mineral water?" Thorndyke offered his "guest" once they were inside his quarters.

"No thanks," Bunnie declined, eyeing the tall, bulky Egg Pawns on each side of her.

"Suit yourself," the young man took a swig from his glass, and turned back to the half-rabbit half-robot. "Now then… your name?"

"Bunnie," the girl replied.

Thorndyke held back a chuckle. "What an original name,"

"It's mo' precious than yer name, which Ah reckon is a false one," Bunnie retorted, "You really a Robotnik bah chance?"

The young man narrowed his eyes fiercely, his welcoming demeanor quickly fading. "That is none of your concern!" he hissed, "Now you are to answer MY questions. Who do you serve?"

Bunnie shrugged. "Hard ta' tell," she replied, "Given Ah was only HALF robotisized, Ah guess whatevah the best path for me is. Ah remember mah good ol' days, but Ah tells ya, the life of evil ain't soundin' too bad."

Thorndyke studied her body, which was now covered by a spare night shirt he had. It was the only decent thing he had done the entire time he was here, Bunnie thought. Even so, she felt disturbed by his stare.

"I'm not sure that's how it works," he muttered, "You're LITERALLY half-robotisized, only from the waist down. The other half still has your head intact, meaning you may still have a mind and heart of your own."

"Do Ah sense mistrust in you, doctah?"

"Forgive me," Thorndyke said cooly, "But you understand why my master and I prefer robots. They're much more loyal. After all, you can program them as such, regardless of artificial intelligence. And believe me, our robots are FAR from any type of intelligence… You've met Cubot, correct?

"But you can't program a living being's brain. They're free to think however they wish. Which is why I question if you truly are loyal to me."

Bunnie twitched her nose, trying to look evilly persuasive, while in the back on her mind, she had to think of a way to use this to her advantage… "What do Ah have to do to prove mahself?"

Thorndyke lowered his head for a moment. "Hmm… I never considered this predicament. Common sense dictates I should just finish the job. But then one of my experiments nearly blew up in my face during my test runs of the robotisizier when I accidently tried my machine on an actual robot. I don't want to ruin my final perfection."

"Ah'd hardly call it perfect if'n it ain't finished the job."

"True…" Thorndyke rubbed his chin, "This would give me a chance to study what other effects my machine can do. Maybe having robotic parts affects your psyche." He eyed Bunnie suspiciously, "Though for all I know, you could be bluffing."

"Then if ya don't want a half-baked foot soldier, then just finish me off already!" Bunnie scowled, though a pit in her stomach made her hope he wouldn't actually take up that offer…

Thorndyke glared at her for a moment… then smirked. "Spunky," he said, "Perhaps you are loyal after all. Or simply just a jerk."

The rabbot snorted.

"Tell you what," Thorndyke stolled past her, and motioned to follow, "I'll give you a little test. Come along, now. Pawns, stay by her side, just to be safe."

Bunnie followed Thorndyke, as the pawns tromped next to her, side by side. They exited his quarters and walked through the metal hallways, and down an elevator lift, approaching the dungeons. The younger doctor led the way as they walked past cells of captured natives. They were varying species, very quiet, but mostly scared.

He finally stopped at a certain prison cell, where a familiar coyote sat with worry. He looked up to see Bunnie standing nearby Thorndyke, and jumped from his seat, rushing to the bars. "Bunnie!" he cried, "Mah cherie! Are you all right, mai dearest!?"

"Keep it together, will ya?" Bunnie spat, "It's pathetic!"

Antoine looked as if he was kicked in the gut, "But, my dearest… I waz zo worreeed! What did zat mongrel do to you!"

"This mongrel is standing right here," Thorndyke snorted, "Watch your mouth."

"So what y'all want me ta' do here now?" Bunnie asked.

"Simple," Thorndyke smirked, as he unlocked the cell and opened it. Antoine came rushing out, wrapping his arms around his wife. Bunnie twitched her nose annoyingly and tossed him off.

"Ya mind? Not in front of the good doctor."

Antoine was taken back. "Good doctair..?"

"Ya deaf as ya are dumb?"

"Bu… Bunnie…?"

The rabbit glared up at the doctor. "Well?"

"Grab him, Bunnie! NOW!"

As a knee-jerk reaction, Bunnie grabbed Antoine's arm. "Now what?"

"We go to the robotisizer," Thorndyke smiled viciously, "YOU are going to have the honors of robotisizing your little friend here."


	3. Chapter 3

"Wuh-WAIT, mai darling!" Antoine cried as he struggled to escape Bunnie's hard grip (from both her robot arm AND regular arm). "You cannot be zeriously considering turning your one and only true love into a ROBOT!"

"Can it!" Bunnie shouted as she shoved the coyote into the room with the robotisizer.

Thorndyke and his Pawn Guards were close behind. "Orbot, status report."

"System checks out, sir," the red-orbed robot replied, "No indications of any malfunctions."

"Then please explain WHY it stopped halfway with this rabbit?"

"I wish I could say, boss, but I can't unless I was here to explain it," Orbot glared at Cubot, who simply shrugged in response.

"I wish _**I**_ could say too, boss," Cubot replied, "But my memory processor is apparently acting up, remember?"

"Of course," Thorndyke grumbled, "I'm the one with a natural memory processor, unlike you…"

"That is," Orbot spoke up, "If we're to assume she is in _fact_ telling the truth…"

Bunnie stared hard, trying to hide her gulp. Fortunately, Thorndyke was none the wiser. "Of COURSE she is!" he snapped, "Look at her! She's HALF robot! How else could that have happened?"

"You may have invented the robotisizer," Orbot explained, "But in this technological world, there may be other means to gaining robotic limbs."

"But of course," said Antoine, "Bunnie- YEOW!" He was silenced as Bunnie squeezed his arm tightly.

Thorndyke twitched his nose. "Well, there's only one way to find out," he murmured, glaring at Bunnie, "You recall my orders. Robotisize him!"

Bunnie gave a hard nod, and shoved her husband into the robotisizer. It slammed shut as he raced to the side, unable to escape. "Bunniieeee!" he cried, "Don't do zees! I am your husband! I love you!"

The rabbot shook slightly as she walked to the console. She was trying to play it off as long as she could, but things were not going very well after all…

Orbot stepped to the side, giving her a cold glare. "Press the big red button, then pull down the lever on your left," he instructed.

'Lady Luck, Ah could really use you about now..!' Bunnie thought to herself, as she pressed the red button. Her hand shook harder as she placed it on the lever…

*BREEP* *BREEP* *BREEP*

Red lights flashed around the room and halls. "What's going on?!" Thorndyke shouted.

"It's a red alert, sir!" Cubot replied.

"I know THAT, you dolt!" Thorndyke replied harshly, "WHAT'S causing it?! Display monitor screens!"

From the ceiling, a screen dropped down, and displayed an image of a blue bi-plane coming closer. Thorndyke narrowed his eyes. "That looks like one of those Tornado planes… Sonic the Hedgehog is on his way?"

"He usually rides on top of the wing," Orbot reported, "But I don't see any sign of him."

"Either way, that plane is coming to attack us," Thorndyke growled, "All pawns, hands on deck! Shoot everything we've got at it! I want that plane out of the sky!"

Thorndyke turned and was about to run out of the room, when Orbot called to him. "Master, what about his half robot, half rabbit?"

"Yeah, this… _rabbot!"_ Cubot called.

"Stay with her, and see to it that she IS indeed loyal," Thorndyke replied, "If she tries anything, sic the the Pawn Guards on her!" Thorndyke replied before taking off once more.

Cubot turned back to Bunnie at the console. "Well, you heard the man!" he ordered, "Robotisize him!"

Bunnie smirked. "Finally… Ah thought he'd nevah leave!" She grabbed the lever…

… and YANKED it clean out of the console.

"What are you doing?!" Orbot cried.

"Puttin' an end to yoah evil scheme!" Bunnie replied, slamming her robot fist into the console. Sparks flew everywhere, as the robotisizer was now inoperable.

"I knew your free will was still intact!" Orbot shouted, "Pawn Guards, attack her!"

The guards turned and came for Bunnie. Fortunately for her, she was ready, and blasted them with her arm cannon.

"Rogue rabbot! Rogue rabbot!" Cubot ducked for cover behind the broken console with Orbot.

Bunnie rushed over to the robotisizer, and punched the glass, freeing Antoine. He leapt out, embracing her tightly. "Mai cherie!" he swooned, "I 'ave known all along zat you were just faking!"

"Shoah ya did, hon," Bunnie snarked, "Sorreh fo' worryin' ya."

"No matter," said Antoine, "Clearly you z'aw Tails on ze monitors. 'Ee ez on 'iz way here, and ze Eggman's apprentice plans to attack! We must help 'im at all costs!"

"Attention! All available bots and pawns!" Orbot's voice rang through the intercoms, "Priorty One Freedom Fighters in the robotisizer room! Assistance needed on Deck B! STAT!"

"Dag nabbit!" Bunnie snarled, jumping over and grabbing Orbot by his thin neck. Cubot rushed over to help him, only to get whacked hard when Bunnie threw his orb-shaped companion at him, knocking them both out of commission.

"Well done, mai dearest," said Antoine, "But come! It will not be long before we are rushed by robots of all sorts!"

"Let's get a move on then!" said Bunnie as they both raced out of the room and down the halls.

* * *

Tails felt a bit of déjà vu as he flew the Tornado II across the island and spotted a red, metallic air ship floating in the sky in the distance. It was like chasing the Egg Carrier back when the big doctor was trying to utilize the God the Destruction, Chaos.

"Up ahead!" he announced back to Chopper and T-Pup, "This reeks of Eggman! I have no doubt that's where the source of all this trouble's at!"

"Then let's go!" Chopper chimed.

Unfortunately, just as he said that, there were some bogies spotted up ahead. Tails spotted three robots in the sky: An Eagle-bot, a Jaybird-Bot, and a Bee-Bot. "These guys again?"

The Eagle-bot, massive in size, twirled up into the air, then dive bombed towards the Tornado.

"Do a barrel roll!" Chopper cried. Tails did just that, rolling the plane to the side, and narrowly missing the robot. The Eagle-bot twisted around and came back for the plane. T-Pup was the first to notice it, and began yapping, which warned the others.

Chopper narrowed his eyes. "Only got one shot… better make it count!"

Just before the eagle could strike, Chopper leaned forward as far as he could, biting the side of the robot. It lost altitude and dropped to the ground. T-Pup grabbed Chopper by his stubby tail and yanked him backwards back into the cockpit.

"Keep your seatbelt fastened, Chopper!" Tails ordered, "We've got more where that came from!"

The beebot flew towards the Tornado II, pointing its stinger tail at them, and blasting fireballs. Tails, being the skilled pilot he was, evaded each blast with ease, and shot his gun at the bee, taking it down.

Finally, there was the Jaybird-bot, doing no more than a mere fly-by. Chopper wasn't about to let it get away, however, and LEPT into the air, spinning for all he was worth, and managing to knock it off course.

The path to the flying fortress was now clear…

… until they got a little too close.

Egg Pawns from every level shot guns and missiles from all angles. Tails did all he could to try and evade every blast, while managing to shoot some bullets and a few missiles. But the closer they got, the more dangerous it was becoming.

"We're gonna get shot down!" Chopper cried.

"Hang in there, kiddo!" Tails called back, "And keep your head down! I know just what to do!"

On the console, Tails hit a button, flipped a switch, and then pulled a level. The wings of the blue bi-plane flipped sideways and moved into an "X" position. The front propellers retracted into the front, as the nose cone protruded out more. And finally, the back of the plane elevated slightly.

"Wow!" Chopper chimed, "That was sooo cool!"

"Thanks!" Tails grinned, "I designed the plane to do it myself!"

"Really? That's really neat! You're so cool, Tails!"

Despite being smack-dab in the middle of the danger zone, Tails couldn't help but grin at the compliment from the younger child. He swerved and flew through the gunfire and attacks like a pro.

* * *

Things weren't as easy for Antoine and Bunnie, however. Since the Egg Pawns were called in, every group imaginable would meet them around every corner. However, Sonic wasn't the only one who could take out an army of Badniks in a single rush. Bunnie held her own very exceptionally, while Antoine wasn't too bad himself, given the circumstances.

After clearing another hallway, Bunnie noticed some commotion from the floor above.

"Y'hear that, Sugah-Twan?" she said, holding out a long ear, "That sounds like gun fire!"

"Oui!" Antoine confirmed, staring out the window, "'Zere is a battale right outside! Ze pawns are aftair ze Tornado Duex!"

"Then we'd best lend a hand!" said Bunnie, "Come on! There's gotta be somethin' we can do t'help!"

"Bunnie, take a look see!" Antoine scavenged one of the many pawns they had destroyed. He picked up a massive arm cannon. "Zis has not been used too much, no?"

"No it hasn't!" Bunnie grinned, "You thinkin' what Ah'm thinkin'?"

"'Zat we bring down ze house, yes?"

"Yes!" Bunnie nodded, "Let's do it to it!"

They raced down the halls once more, finally finding an elevator and boarding. The moment they reached the level they wanted, the honeymooners had themselves a shooting spree, striking down every Egg Pawn in sight with ease. Bunnie had her own arm cannon, but Antoine lent a hand with the one he took from the earlier pawn. He was just as good with a gun as he was with a sword, apparently.

* * *

Even in Battle Mode, Tails noticed the herd was thinning. There weren't as many attacks from the decks. He chanced a quick fly by near the upper level, and saw Antoine and Bunnie making all sorts of commotions, taking out every Pawn and Gun in sight.

"Way to go, guys!" he called down.

The two looked up, spotted the plane, and waved. "All cleah, sugah!" Bunnie shouted over.

The Tornado II spun around and headed down for a landing…

*CRASH*

Bunnie and Antoine cringed as the Tornado II smashed and skidded into the deck. Once it stopped, Tails groaned to himself. "Oh yeah… I've STILL hadn't installed landing gear yet… Yep, this definitely reminds me of the Egg Carrier adventure…"

He climbed out of the wreckage, helping Chopper and T-Pup out as well, as Bunnie and Antoine came running over. "You all right?"

"We're good," Tails responded, all having gotten out safely, "Just me in my dumber moments…"

"Well, we'd bettah hurreh then," said Bunnie, "Sooner we find a way to help these poah crittahs, the bettah!"

"It's '_critters',_ not '_crittahs!"_

Everyone turned at the sound of the voice. From the other side of the deck, a panel opened on the floor, and on the lift, a massive-looking robot appeared.

Only, it wasn't really a robot. Upon closer look, everyone saw it was actually Thorndyke, piloting a giant Mech Armor suit.

"Do you like it?" he grinned, "I call it the 'Egg-O-Skeletal' suit. Named it after my beloved master, Eggman!"

"It ain't gonna matter much, hon, cuz we're gonna bust you apart!"

"We'll see about that, rodents!" Thorndyke shouted, as he leaned the walker forward, exposing its chest. The front hatch opened and two missiles shot out, aimed for the heroes. Tails quickly grabbed Chopper and T-Pup, as Bunnie grabbed Antoine, and both blasted in different directions as the missiles quickly followed. The two quickly flew behind the Egg-O-Skeletal battle suit, and both missiles struck.

The battle suit staggered and nearly fell over, but Thorndyke remained upright, and turned to face the heroes threateningly.

"Somethin' tells me it's gunna be a while b'fore we manage to take this creep down," Bunnie growled.

"Oui," Antoine nodded, looking determined himself. He knew when to set aside his cowardice and be brave, especially when it came to helping his friends.

The Egg-O-Skeletal took to the air, carefully aiming for the group, and slammed down on the ground in an attempt to squash them. Fortunately, they just managed to get out of the way.

"Tails, the level down b'low is clear," Bunnie said, "We made sure o' that! You g'wan ahead t'find a way to stop all these mechanics! If anyone can do it, it's you!"

"Okay! Be careful!" Tails called, grabbing Chopper by the wrist and yanking him away towards the elevators.

Thorndyke took notice of his trying to escape. He opened the suit's chest compartment to fire more missiles, but Antoine shot his arm cannon at him. The shot hit the missiles, causing an explosion inside the suit itself.

Thorndyke was thrown back, but somehow the suit was still standing, despite the gasping hole in the front.

"I will not be taken down so easily!" he shouted, his face filled with anger and anxiety.

Bunnie and Antoine looked determined themselves. This was going to be tougher than they imagined…

* * *

Thanks to the married duo, Tails and Chopper easily made their way through the 3rd level without interruption. They made it to the robotisizer room, where they found a giant machine with busted glass, a completely smashed console, and two robots out of commission.

"Welp, nothin' here!" Chopper stupidly commended.

Tails rolled his eyes and then made his way to the giant machine. "This looks like the robotisizer that Thorndyke used to turn everyone into robots."

"Okay," said Chopper, "What about it?"

"It's no good to us now, but maybe we should get the schematics for it."

"How?"

"T-Pup! Here boy!" Tails whistled to the robot-fox robot, who scampered over like a puppy. "Scan the robotisizer, boy. C'mon now," he ordered.

T-Pup looked over at the robotisizer, and his eyes suddenly developed a sort of X-Ray. Curiously, Chopper held out his hand to touch, but Tails grabbed it and pulled back. "Not a good idea," he said, "You might accidently develop something…"

Chopper blinked, confused, but then shrugged.

"Arf arf!" T-Pup's X-Ray vision went away, and he wagged his tail happily at his master.

"Good boy!" Tails pat his head, and then motioned the two to follow. "Come on! Let's see if we can find a computer room." He chuckled at what he just said, "Where's Vector when you need him?"

"Who?"

"Oh, never mind. Just a friend of mine. This way!"

The group raced their way through the air ship with minimal trouble. There was a stray pawn or robot animal, which the duo made quick work of.

Finally, at the end of the ship, they approached a set of steel-plated double doors. "How much you want to bet Thorndyke's got something we could use to defeat him behind those doors?"

Chopper scratched his head. "Uhhh….. Five mobiums?"

"I'll have to teach you how to gamble when we get older," Tails snorted, "… First I have to learn myself. But for now…"

He came over to a control panel planted on the wall next to the doors, and messed with the controls a bit.

"_Accessed denied."_

Tails twitched his nose and tried another code.

"_Access denied."_

"This would be much easier if this was Eggman's ship," Tails grunted, trying another code.

"_Access denied."_

"Darn it!" Tails banged his fist against the wall, "This guy can really rival me in smarts!" He crossed his arms and tapped his foot. "How am I going to get through this…"

"Can I try?" Chopper asked.

The fox shrugged. "Okay, but… what can you do?"

Chopper approached the center of the doors, and gnawed through the slit with his big teeth. Tails raised an eyebrow. "Chopper, what are you doing..?"

The chipmunk didn't reply, but rather kept trying to chew through.

Tails sighed. "Thanks for trying, but I really don't think that's going to do any –"

The doors suddenly slid open. "_Access Granted."_

Tails stared, bewildered. "… -good."

Chopper grinned proudly, and Tails patted his back. "Good job, lil' buddy!"

"Thanks!" Chopper grinned, excited about the compliment, while Tails was excited about actually having his OWN little buddy.

The group entered the dark room, which automatically lit up brightly as they stepped deeper inside. There were computers lined up against the wall, and at the end of the room stood a giant satellite on a circular lift.

"What's that for..?" Chopper asked.

Tails narrowed his eyes. "If it's anything like the robotisizer, then it's no good at all."

"Then we gotta destroy it then!" Chopper lunged forward, teeth bared, but Tails quickly pulled him back.

"Hold it!" he cried, "We don't know what it is yet. And besides…" He looked down at T-Pup and grinned, "It might actually be useful."

Finding a nearby cable, he hooked T-Pup's memory system into one of the computers. On the screen, all sorts of files began popping up. Tails skimmed through.

"Hey Tails, this is cool an' all," said Chopper, "But should we really be lookin' at all these files when yer friends might be gettin' their butts kicked?"

"These are essential files, Chopper," said Tails, "I'm working as quickly as I can, but we need to understand what we're dealing with. Antoine and Bunnie are pretty strong. They can handle Thorndyke for now."

After skimming through more, Tails grinned. "I get it now!" he cried, "Thorndyke's just using this island to test run his robotisizer. But he really plans to turn the entire world into Eggman Bots! And he's planning to use this satellite dish to relay the signal!"

"So we DO hafta destroy it then!" Chopper shouted.

"Not yet," Tails said, "We're not going to let this satellite be used for evil, that's for sure. But now that I know the schematics for the robotisizer, I've got a better use for it!"

* * *

Bunnie and Antoine were indeed strong… but unfortunately so was Thorndyke's walker. And unlike organic matter, it wasn't tiring out like the two heroes.

Even with Bunnie's robotic arm and Antoine's Pawn Cannon, the Egg-O-Skeletal battle suit managed to stay intact, and Thorndyke kept delivering blow after blow.

Luckily, Thorndyke had run out of missiles, and he was too involved in the battle to run off and stock up on more. However, he settled for chasing the honeymooners down and trying to stomp them. The two kept shooting their arm cannons, but it simply wasn't enough, and the two were losing their steam.

*WHAM!*

Thorndyke had managed to stomp the ground a little too close to them. The vibration of the landing hit them hard, and dazed them hard. They fell over on the ground on top of each other.

"Finally..!" Thorndyke breathed, a sadistic grin creeping across his face. He came over to the two, still on the ground in befuddlement, raised the suit's giant steel foot, and-

*BRRRRMMM*

The entire air fortress shook violently, as did the battle suit. Thorndyke pushed and pulled at the controls wildly, but nothing appeared to want to work. "What's going on?"

Bunnie and Antoine glanced up, then quickly scrambled out of the way as the Egg-O-Skeletal suit shorted out and toppled forward, crashing to the floor.

"Noo!" Thorndyke screamed, "Why? What just happened? I almost won!"

"You almost got lucky, but luck only counts in horseshoes!"

Bunnie and Antoine looked over to see Tails, Chopper, and T-Pup racing over.

"YOU?!" Thorndyke screamed, "But how-?!" He got the answer as he climbed out of his now wrecked suit, and caught sight of a giant satellite that was risen in the back of the ship. "My satellite!" he screamed, "How did you even find it? AND work it?!"

Tails crossed his arms confidently. "It really wasn't that hard," he grinned, "I'm just that darn smart."

Thorndyke seethed viciously, and in a fit of rage, raced towards Tails as if to attack.

*CHOMP!*

Once he got too close, his arm was clamped down by the strong teeth of the little chipmunk. "YEOW!" he screamed, waving his arm around to throw him off. He finally was able to pluck him off as he grabbed the collar of his scruff. "You little brat!" he hissed as he tossed him to the ground, "I oughta-!"

"You oughta do nuttin!" Bunnie shouted as she ran in, "Leave mah boys alone!"

*WHAM!*

She socked him hard with her fist, sending him flying to the side of the ship. Lucky for him, it was her normal fist. Had she punched with her robot fist, he'd surely be dead…

The air ship rattled some more. "Come on, you guys!" Tails cried, "This ship's going down! We need to vacate, ASAP!"

"I swear… I'll have my revenge!" Thorndyke screamed as he jumped to his feet and ran off to the elevators.

"'Ee ez getting away!" Antoine shouted.

"Nevah mind him!" Bunnie said, scooping her husband into her arms, "Y'heard Tails! We gotta go!"

Tails rushed to the Tornado II, hit a button, and it transformed back into a TV item box. He pocketed it, lifted up Chopper, and proceeded to fly off the air fortress as T-Pup helicoptered after. Bunnie wasn't far behind, using her robot feet to rocket herself and Antoine (in her arms) into the air.

"What about ze student of Eggman?" Antoine called over, "Sure 'ee weel be back to attack once more!"

"Nothing we can do about it," Tails called back, "He's not about to escape that ship anyway."

"Why d'you say that, sugah?" asked Bunnie.

"Because that satellite did more than deactivate his ship AND his battle suit," Tails replied, "It sent out a signal to derobotisize all the animals on the island, AND whoever was left on that ship. Those guys then took all the remaining escape pods to get back on the island."

The group looked behind themselves, as the air fortress descended quickly and crashed into the ocean.

"What a shame…" Bunnie sighed, "Ah almost feel sorry for that young man… _Almost."_

* * *

Later that night, Thorndyke regained consciousness, and found himself floating on a piece of his now wrecked air fortress. Everything around him was destroyed. He was done for…

There was only one thing he could do…

He tapped a communicator watch strapped to his wrist. Fortunately, that was still operational. "F… Father..?" he mewed.

No answer.

"Father…" he tried again, "… Come get me… Please?"

It was a long bout of silence. Thorndyke dropped his head in defeat.

"… _Your first assignment, and you blew it… MISERABLY!"_

Thorndyke raised his head up suddenly. "Father?"

"_That's MASTER to you, you worthless excuse for an heir!" _Eggman's voice hissed through the communicator, "_I have every bit of mind to leave your pathetic self floating in the middle of the ocean! Lucky for you, you're still have some use to me…"_

"Please Fath- I mean, Master! Give me a second chance! I promise I'll prove myself!"

"_We'll see about that_…"

"So are you coming to rescue me..?"

"_Eventually…"_

Thorndyke blinked, shocked. "Eventually?"

"_You heard me! I may use you again in my next scheme… but I just have to think about what it'll be, first. Until then, just float there and think of a way to make yourself a better protégé. I don't want a pathetic wreck coming back right now… Eggman out!"_

"Master, wait!" Thorndyke cried, but Eggman had already shut off the transmission.

* * *

"So tell us a 'lil 'bout yoahself, Choppah," Bunnie said, after she, Antoine, and Tails had pretty much told the younger chipmunk their life stories.

Chopper looked up to the sky, trying to think. "Weelll…." He mumbled, "I… uh…" He shrugged. "I dunno."

The three blinked, confused. "You do not know..?" Antoine questioned, "What of your fathair, or mothair? Any brothairs or sistairs?"

Chopper shook his head. "Nope," he replied simply, "I'm all alone out here."

"Oh mah..!" Bunnie said sadly, "Poah lil' ol' thing. Not even someone to take care of ya. Y'all shouldn't be all by yerself on this big island."

"It's okay," Chopper sighed, "I'm kinda used to it. I've been by myself for… well, a long while."

Bunnie looked over to Antoine. "Sugah-Twan," she said, "Y'all agree with me, don'cha? This lil' guy needs a home!"

The coyote nodded. "Oui," he replied, "Ee needs proper guardianship and parental figures."

"So then ya wanna take 'im home with us?"

Chopper gasped delightly at the idea. Antoine gasped in horror. "NO!" he cried, "Not yet! Not 'zis early in our marriage! Kids will only damper our love life, mon cherie!"

"Antoine D'Coolette!" Bunnie yelped, "How can ya be so selfish and cold-hearted?!"

Antoine wrung his hands. "I do not mean to be cold, my love," he replied, "But I want to enjoy you as much as I can while I can. It is too soon to be having children, even if we adopt… Could we not wait a little while longer..?"

"It's fine," Chopper moaned, "Like I said, I'm used to bein' by myself…"

Antoine sighed. "Oy, guilt me hard, why don't you..?"

"It's okay, Antoine," Tails smiled, putting a hand on Chopper's shoulder, "He can come stay with me and my folks." He looked down at the little chipmunk and smiled. "I always wanted a little brother of my own, after all."

"Really?!" Chopper chimed, appearing to like this idea even more, "I get ta' live with you?"

"If it's okay with my parents," Tails replied, "But I'm sure they won't mind."

"Horray!" Chopper gleamed, jumping up and hugging Tails tightly around the neck, "I'm getting a family! And the coolest big brother in the entire world!"

Tails laughed and hugged him back.

Bunnie and Antoine smiled and leaned into each other. "Welcome to the family."


End file.
